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"In Nightlight, Avril tells a moving coming-of-age story laced with family secrets and tragedy. As she grapples with the loss of both parents, an uncle reveals a shocking piece of information that hits her hard but also helps her to understand some of her childhood's more confounding questions.Avril's style is straightforward and spare. Simple, declarative sentences move her narrative along at a brisk pace." - Excerpted from The Washington Post Book World, September 2nd, 2007.

"Janine Avril's memoir is a luminous gift for navigating the often shadowy notions of truth we are presented by our loved ones. Nightlight is a clear-eyed look at how parents protect their children with loving intent but darker results. Avril's story shines with love even in its darkest places and her writing reflects a kind of spiritual maturity that is hard won and rare. This is a book worth revisiting and time and again, and I will come back to it, eager to find its insights afresh.Nightlight is a memoir that will remain in my stack of books to be savored as I mature as an artist, as someone's child and my own person." Jay Quinn, Author of The Beloved Son

"An electric story told with deep feeling--a real life mystery that tracks to its source the corrosive and deadly consequences of a family secret."
Katherine Forest, Author of Curious Wine

"Avril’s narration is honest and without judgment, and her voice is clear throughout. The pain of losing her mom to a rare form of cancer and the anger towards her father are expressed beautifully. The challenging attitude of young adulthood also comes alive on the page. Avril’s writing is crisp and at times, wise beyond her years. She has strength for dialogue, letting the characters tell their own stories. " Adela Brito, Edge New York

"Janine Avril's memoir, Nightlight, is an unflinching account of childhood and a young woman's coming of age. Nightlight is a story of what at first seems to be the life of an average upper middle class family in New York. As the narrative unfolds one is lead through childhood perceptions and feelings with the realization that very little protects one from the realities of life. Janine has pieced together meaning through memory and adult revelations which have profoundly affected her identity and an untold truth of her family’s history. Nightlight is a memoir that will speak to and for a generation."
Grace Moon, Publisher/Editor Velvetpark Magazine